Cabbage Rolls and Water Tribe Boys
by sapereaude13
Summary: A dinner party on Kyoshi Island does not endear Sokka to Suki. Especially when he takes her cabbage roll. Set during The Warriors of Kyoshi. Sokka/Suki, in a before-they-like-each-other bickering sort of way.


Much as Suki enjoyed the honor of wearing the Kyoshi Warrior garb, it was ridiculously cumbersome when eating. And since the Avatar himself had decided to bless their island with his presence, she and the other warriors were expected to be in their formal best from dawn until bed. The long day of training had left her with a solid appetite, and she watched trays and trays of delicacies pass her by. The Avatar and his friends were to be served first, and Suki did her best to keep her growling stomach in check as the village elders fussed over their honored guests.

She bit her lip as a steaming tray of eel was carried past and set down in front of that obnoxious Water Tribe guy. He'd insulted everything that meant anything to her and had been a thorn in her side since their arrival. The boy's sister and the Avatar had been gracious, but this Sokka was a real pain. Suki looked away from him as he stuffed his face without even saying thank you. The warm plates covering the large dining table in the elder's home were making her face paint runny, and the last thing she needed was makeup in her eyes.

After minutes of honoring the Avatar with the various delicacies of their island, the elders finally had the servers put down trays for themselves and the warriors. Suki could see the relief on the other girls' faces, and she joined them in gratitude. She had her chopsticks poised over a delicious looking cabbage roll when that boy groaned.

"Are there any more cabbage rolls?"

By that time, the plates had been passed, and they were gone. Sokka was out of luck, but that was when Elder Oyaji decided to be ridiculously gracious.

"Suki...you haven't eaten yours yet. Why not share it with our guest?"

She nearly dropped her chopsticks at the insinuation that she continue to delay her meal so this...this idiot could eat her food.

The Avatar, Aang, seemed to sense her distress, and Sokka's sister also took note. "Sokka, you've had three," Katara chided him. "You don't need any more food."

But the elder raised his eyebrow at her in expectation. Kyoshi forbid she dishonor a companion of the Avatar. It would be a disgrace to her island, her people and of course, to Kyoshi herself. But it looked so good, bright green and piping hot.

She held out her plate, seeing Sokka's mouth water at the sight of it from his seat across and to the left of her. "Please, have mine," she muttered through gritted teeth.

Sokka's chopsticks snatched it before she could even finish, and she saw his face contort into pure delight. It was probably the best cabbage roll Kyoshi Island had ever produced, and the cooks had clearly put a lot more effort into the meal. It wasn't every day that the Avatar and his flying bison showed up in their village.

Suki lamented the fact that the Unagi couldn't come ashore and take this hungry idiot away and let her eat in peace. She looked down at the sorry state of her dinner, now less the main course. One of her fellow warriors elbowed her gently, sliding a small bite-sized piece of her own cabbage roll onto her plate.

"Thanks Miki," she whispered quietly. The elders engaged the Avatar in a lively discussion. It seemed that he and his friends had only recently set out, and their island was one of their first stops on their way north. Suki had never ventured away from Kyoshi Island, and before tonight, she'd had little interest in doing so. She was responsible for the protection of her village, but as Aang spoke of air temples and various cities in the Earth Kingdom beyond the island, Suki couldn't help being envious of their adventures.

The meal continued, with Aang and Katara actively chatting with the warriors and the elders. Meanwhile, Sokka had still not stopped eating. Suki kept watching him, unable to tear her eyes away. He'd probably get sick, and he'd keep her up all night. He'd probably throw up at the same volume he complained. The whole village would have to listen. She poked at her plate, not wishing to look like a glutton in front of the Avatar.

She was startled then when Sokka waved at her. "Hey Suki!"

The elders were preoccupied with Aang and Sokka's sister, so there was no one to save her from a conversation she didn't want. But of course, the slightest bit of annoyance in her tone would draw attention. "Yes, Sokka?"

He leaned back and rubbed his stomach. "Thanks for that cabbage roll. It was great!"

She stifled a complaint and forced a smile. "You're welcome." Suki turned away to feign conversation with Miki, but Sokka kept talking.

"So what do you do all day?"

"I'm sorry?"

He nodded, waving his hand around dismissively. She couldn't look away from the tiny piece of cabbage that had lodged itself between his front teeth. "You know, when you're not busy knocking out defenseless people and dragging them back to your village?"

Suki wanted to throw her chopsticks at him for his rudeness, but that would garner attention. Sokka's big mouth didn't seem to attract anyone's notice. "I train, patrol...same as any other soldier."

Sokka nodded like one would do to placate a child. "That's nice. But seriously, how much of it is fan dancing and how much of it is sewing?"

Was no one else hearing this chauvinist garbage? "It's not dancing. It's our fighting technique. And the only sewing I do," she explained coldly, holding up her sleeve for his inspection, "is repairs to my uniform."

Sokka's next sure to be awful question was interrupted then by Elder Oyaji. "We are truly honored to have you in our village, Avatar Aang. Let our warriors escort you and your companions to our guest quarters." The elder then shot her a death glare, and she rose to her feet as quickly as she could, the other girls following suit.

"Avatar Aang, please follow me," she said as kindly as she could, knowing that Sokka's cynical eyes were on her and her fellow warriors. The servers began clearing the table, and Suki led the three guests and their rather cute little lemur from the dining room. The air outside was cool after the warmth of the elder's house, and it felt great against her skin. It would stall the melting of the face paint that she longed to wipe off for the night. She wouldn't get to do that until Aang and his friends were secured. And with the way this Sokka had been behaving, it would keep her up for far longer than she wished.

She led them through the now emptied main village path to the prepared guest estate that had long gone unused. The only visitors Kyoshi Island received lately were fishermen and traders, not the sort of people that required such elaborate lodgings. Aang and Katara were clearly exhausted from their travel and their meal and immediately let Suki's friends escort them to their prepared rooms. Of course, Sokka was not done harassing her, and he idled in the entry hall while she waited at attention.

"So are you babysitting us?" he asked her, fiddling with the light fixture on the wall.

She remained at attention. There was no way she'd be anything less than what she'd trained so hard to be in front of someone like him. "I wouldn't call it babysitting. I'm ensuring your safety."

"I hardly think the Unagi is going to come eat me here. I don't need a girl keeping watch on me." He pulled the boomerang from its holder on his back and waved it around. "All I need is my boomerang."

"It's standard procedure for guests," she replied, trying her best to ignore yet another slight against her gender. "We keep watch on the house until everyone is in bed and secured."

"But what if someone attacks during the night?" he challenged her.

She broke from her strict stance and moved forward to stare at him, his blue eyes seemingly amused by her advance. "We keep watch in shifts. Miki will stay here once you go to sleep and I'll relieve her in a few hours."

"Oh really?" he asked. "Will you be spying on us?"

"What? No, of course not. Why would I spy on you?"

"I saw you eyeing me at dinner."

She backed up a step. "Excuse me?"

He gave her a knowing look. "Not too often you have a real warrior from the Water Tribe around here, huh? It's understandable."

All she had to do was pull her fan from her sleeve and deck him. Let him see what a real warrior was like, but of course, she couldn't. But she didn't have to take this ridiculous kind of talk. Instead of knocking him to the ground like she knew she could do easily, she poked him in the chest angrily. "Look, just because you're friends with the Avatar doesn't give you the right to treat us like second class people. I'm a warrior, too, you know!"

Sokka smiled, lightly shoving her hand aside. He moved to put his arm around her. "Aww, that's very sweet. I really admire your spirit."

She would be in trouble with the elders for the next several dozen years and by all rights, they could strip her of her position, but she couldn't take it any longer. Suki's fingers clenched around the fan, readying it to beat him senseless.

"Hey Sokka, I was wondering if you..."

Suki froze, her fan outstretched in her hand directly in front of Sokka's face as Katara emerged into the hall.

The Water Tribe girl gave her a strange look. "Am I interrupting something?"

Suki was mortified. "No...no!" She had the fan away in seconds. "We were just...talking."

Sokka, to her surprise, nodded enthusiastically. "Go to bed, Katara. We're chatting, warrior to warrior." There was the usual sarcasm in his voice, but it seemed to placate his sister.

"Okay," the girl said, still rather confused. "Get some sleep so the warriors can do the same, Sokka. They've been training all day." Katara departed, leaving her alone with Sokka once more

He turned to her with a wide smile, the offending piece of cabbage still glinting green to match her uniform. "I suppose I'd better get some sleep so I can be awake when you come on duty."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, although she had an idea where he was going with this.

Sokka patted her shoulder in a patronizing matter. "Just in case you need some help."

"How gracious," she snapped at him. The other girls emerged from the bedrooms, filing silently past them. Miki gave her an amused grin, although she couldn't understand why. "If there's nothing else, Sokka, I'll be leaving."

"Aren't you going to tuck me in? Isn't that part of ensuring my safety?"

She hid her shaking fist behind her back. "I'm quite sure a true warrior can tuck himself in. Good night." Whirling about on her heel, she stomped out of the guest house. She waited until she got all the way home before screaming into her pillow about stupid Water Tribe boys and their stupid love of cabbage rolls.


End file.
